Marines and seebees began work last month to replace the runway at the airport on Catalina Island. The military personnel are using the project as a training too. They prepare to lay cement on Friday, January 25, 2019. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The gift means the popular mountaintop airport will now be known as Ace Clearwater Airfield at the Airport in the Sky, Catalina Island Conservancy spokeswoman Laura Mecoy said.

Catalina Island Conservancy Board of Directors chair Kellie Johnson, the president and CEO of ACE, is also a part-time Avalon resident; her husband, Gary Johnson, is company vice president. Kellie Johnson co-owns the 60-year-old family business with her father, Tim Dodson.

“At Ace, we like to say that if it flies, we have parts on it,” Kellie Johnson said in a statement. “This is a great legacy for our family and the ACE team whose hard work and ‘Attitude Committed to Excellence’ have made this donation possible.”

Tony Budrovich, conservancy president and CEO, said the “very generous gift” had come at an opportune time.

“We launched our fundraising for this $5 million project in October, and with their leadership and the generosity of so many others, we are well on our way to raising the funds needed to pay for repairing the runway,” he said.

The privately owned airport provides a crucial link to the mainland.

The airport sees more than 7,000 private flights annually. Almost one-third of those provide mail service as well as FedEx and UPS deliveries.

The runway construction is being performed by U.S. Marines and Seebees as a training exercise and outreach project that pairs community needs with military training opportunities.

The new runway means the conservancy will no longer spend $2.5 million annually to patch it. The state had also told the conservancy a long-term fix was needed if the airport was to remain open to the public.

Veteran journalist Nick Green is the beat reporter for the cities of Torrance, Carson and Lomita and also covers the South Bay's rapidly growing craft beer industry for the Daily Breeze. He has worked for newspapers on the West Coast since graduating in 1987 from the University of Washington and lives in Old Torrance with his wife and two cats. Follow him on Twitter @NickGreen007 and @BeerGogglesLA.